Python by Trussardi, 1999

If you can get past the very intense, medicinal, Dior Poison-like opening of Trussardi Python, you will be richly rewarded with a positively edible, gourmand-focused and shockingly soft, velvety fragrance. I still remember trying Python for the first time, back when it was launched in 1999; I spritzed it on at Sephora, recoiled in horror ("ewww, Poison!" - not a fan of the infamously strong purple juice, never have been) and moved right along down the fragrance shelf to find something more agreeable. It wasn't until I was nearly out of the store that I noticed something on me that smelled like a spiced, very deep, dark, high cocoa-content chocolate I'd had from Richart (a fancy chocolate maker) blended with sweet resin and vanilla. It took me at least a minute to remember what I could have spritzed that smelled like that, and finally realized it had to have been the Python, as everything else I'd tried had been basically florally. Well, I marched back into that store, got a bottle and have been in love with it ever since. I don't wear it terribly often; it's quite potent, even in its softer gourmand drydown stage, and can be cloying if overapplied. It's also not terribly easy to find. But it's worth the search, as it's terribly unique and sensual. Perfumebay does have it from time to time, so check it out!